The present invention relates to a method and a system for facilitating automobile purchase and lease transactions. More specifically, the present invention relates to an interactive system which collects customer requirements and preferences and provides a listing of available dealership inventory matching those items. The system permits a customer to review a number of available vehicles to narrow the scope of his search prior to the involvement of a sales assistant. The system may be used for either new or used vehicles.
The modern automobile customer is faced with a daunting array of choices for not only car models from which to choose but also with respect to the business from which to buy them. The average size of automobile dealerships for both new and used vehicles is growing. Moreover, with increasing frequency, dealerships sell multiple automobile lines under one roof. Therefore, even within a particular price range, automobile type, or manufacturer line, there are a plethora of choices and decisions to be made by the consumer.
In a typical car purchase transaction, the customer visits the dealership and wanders the showroom or the dealer's lot in search of an automobile meeting the customer's requirements and desires. The customer does not have any information concerning current dealership inventory. The customer may be approached by a salesperson who will provide assistance to the customer in locating and identifying the desired make and model. For the reasons described above, this process can be quite time consuming, particularly if the customer is unsure about her needs.
The process for a used car may be even more cumbersome. Used cars of a particular line may be found at many more dealerships than just those of that particular line. It follows that the customer has an even larger number of potential trips to make to examine cars. Shopping for used cars using newspaper advertisements can also be very time intensive and has the potential to produce disappointing results because newspaper advertisements typically provide only bare-bones information and do not provide a visual image of the automobile to give some indication of its condition. U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,731 to Lalonde et al. discloses a Computer-Based Classified Ad System and Method which features visual images of the items offered for sale.
Some customers may prefer to do their initial model selection alone in the absence of any sales pressure from an employee of the dealership. The dealership may benefit from this preference by not having a salesperson tied up with a customer who is unsure of what he wants. The dealership and the customer will benefit from involving the salesperson at a point where the customer knows what he wants.
The systems that have been developed in this area do not address all the needs described above. For example, the Car Max.RTM. chain of used car "superstores" provides a customer operated system for car selection called AutoMation.RTM. Vehicle Browse. It is believed that the system stores a customer name for display in an on-screen greeting. The system also uses the customer's zip code to incorporate the associated city into the customer greeting. However, it is not believed that the system creates a link to a salesperson or contacts the salesperson when the customer is ready to test drive a vehicle. A similar system is available from the Auto Nation USA used car chain. However, it is believed that that system does have the features described above.
There is a need then for a system and a method of facilitating an automobile transaction which will permit a customer to sift through the myriad choices available for a car purchase. At the same time, the system and method must optimize salesperson effectiveness by involving the salesperson in the transaction only when needed and at the point where the customer is most likely to be ready to purchase. Desirably, such a system would also link the salesperson to the customer to permit follow-up both during the customer's visit and later, after the customer has left the dealership.